Turkish Zaman Aug 9, 2007
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, a consultative body attached to the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, has sent a delegation to Turkey on a fact-finding mission concerning Turkish court cases opened against mayors and members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).
According to an announcement aired on the Council of Europe's Web site on Monday, the delegation arrived in Turkey yesterday and will remain until Friday. "The Congress Bureau has been following local democracy developments in Turkey closely for several months, concerned at the surge in court cases against mayors of the DTP party and in particular, the recent decision to remove the mayor and members of the Sur municipal council from their functions," the announcement said. Late last month, court officials said prosecutors have been seeking jail terms of up to three years for Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir and Abdullah Demirbaş, who was removed in June from his post as mayor of Sur, a town in Diyarbakır, in addition to 17 aldermen who introduced Kurdish and other languages to official business while in office. The delegation is led by Congress Vice President Anders Knape and includes two congress rapporteurs on Turkey, the announcement said.
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